Greetings, Our facilities managers disregarded my request for sealed concrete flooring in our new permanent storage facility (archival materials and museum objects including large amounts of ferrous metal, photographic prints, and composite objects) and instead laid new VCT and then sealed it with a water-based sealer containing low amounts of PVC plasticizers including phthalates.
Metal equipment previously in the space showed considerable corrosion after only a few months of temporary storage prior to the application of the sealant, probably due to poor environmental control (high Rh/temps over the summer). We will have climate control (and I have not yet looked at the newly provided MSDS sheets on paint, etc.) Any suggestions? Unfortunately, the objects were already at risk (corrosion/mold) from poor storage conditions previously. We have cleaned them with our museum HEPA vacuum and placed them on baked enamel shelving with untreated, washed muslin dust covers. I am recommending encapsulation of photographic prints in Melinex and metal objects in inert poly where possible. Assuming I can keep the Rh/temp under control, recommendations are welcome for mitigating the long-term impact of any outgassing. Thanks in advance, Kirsten Hebert Heritage Services Specialist Archives & Museum of Optometry ****** Unsubscribe by sending a message to [email protected] Archives through August 2016 at http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/ Archives from September 2016 onward at https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
